Question of the day: 12 June 2008

Stratics VeteranStratics Legend

Catskills use to be known as a Role Players shard with many different communities on it. I have noticed through many of your posts, talking to players in game and wandering the shard that a good portion of those players have been leaving as of lately. This saddens me greatly as I hate to see anyone leave Catskills for a new place to call home. So I was wondering why are you, or have you, left the shard?

My question today is: If you are/were a role player why did or are you planning to leave the Catskills shard? What could of the Dev team done to support the Role Players more? What would make many of you come back?

For those of you who never really interact with the role players they have their own story lines that they run and many are very interesting to say the least. They build their own cities and kingdoms in game and use to have thriving areas that they called their own. Use to be these were some of the best places to visit because there was always something going on day and night in the places they gather. If you have never been inside a RP player ran tavern on its busy night you have missed one of the best things about this game.

You should of visited Kinship tavern, Galehaven or Knights Rest in their prime. You would of seen a Vampire chatting to a druid about a war and how fine the blood wine at this tavern. You might also seen a drunken pirate stumble in and challenge every man inside to a duel, or a orc come in and demand Tribute only to be chased out by a serving wench talking in a Irish brogue. I was always entertained when I visited these places and made to chuckle to myself and I for one hate to see them slowly going away.

There just doesn't seem to be enough people on anymore. I would sometimes go to Skara and jump in the RP scene and have some fun. It just seems a lot of the rpers are gone or in a place I don't know about lol.

Stratics VeteranStratics Legend

I try to rp as much as possible. With a light-heartedness to how I conduct myself though. For a while there was a guild that was handling themselves like a band of orcs...I actually considered joining them. Does anyone know if they are still around? And the Kinship Villiage was, in my opion the rulers of rp... I mean...they had their own villiage.

And even though its a necro'ed thread, there is one answer that people often forget about Catskills.

We're old.

The game came out in '97. Most of what people consider the "great rp guilds" were in full swing by '98. They were mostly lead by and made up of players in their late teens to mid 20s. Now, we are all grown u...well...Old...and have spouses and kids and careers and real life stuff that comes first.

Also, times have changed. UO doesn't get advertising anymore. No magazine or TV ads like WoW. No presence on store shelves. The new players we get, we have to recruit ourselves, or hope someone stumbles on the UO site by accident. Us old timers can't pass the torch if nobody is there to take it.

GovernorStratics Veteran

Beleg is correct. We are simply all growing old. Much of the tiime we used to devote to the game is now spent tending our famlies, or rubbing Ben-Gay into the many aches and pains we are now getting doing simple hosehold chores.

Roleplay on Catskills will never truely die. Oh from time to time we will see lags in activity. And many of those we recall fondly will only live again in necro threads. But the rich history that drew many of us to take our first steps into the world of RP willl always be there.

I have in some ways left Sosaria. But Sosaria will not seem to leave me. I have traveled to Paragon City and learned to take flight, I have been a druid and a Night Elf. And I have trod the path of the Fellowship in Middle Earth. But in the back of my mind, and I think this is so for many of us, I am always called home to Sosaria, and my homes in the Aegis.

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